4 resources from Kalzumeus Software we point founders to, and the questions each answers.
✍️ Essay
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Why we picked it
This is the classic counterweight to the first-timer instinct to price low out of nervousness. McKenzie's core argument is that price should reflect the value the customer receives, not the hours or ease it took you to build, and that most makers systematically undercharge because they see their product's flaws instead of its alternatives. Read it right after you draft a number, then ask honestly whether you flinched too low.
Why we picked it
Two experienced bootstrapped founders talk through pricing decisions in plain language, including why targeting businesses instead of consumers makes a too-low price especially costly. It is a conversation, not a lecture, so you hear the actual reasoning and disagreements, useful when you are trying to think out loud about your own number.
Why we picked it
McKenzie went from zero consulting clients to a full pipeline using direct, honest outreach with no case studies to point to, and this conversation with Ramit Sethi is the clearest breakdown of how he actually did it. It applies just as well to a product founder emailing prospective customers as it does to a consultant emailing prospective clients: the mechanics of a credible cold ask are the same.
Why we picked it
Written from the receiving end by someone who gets a lot of cold email, this lays out exactly what makes an ask easy to say yes to versus what reads as an open-ended, vague favor. It reframes the vague-ask mistake as a favor to the reader, not just etiquette.
